January 21, 2012
Sodomy 2 Appeal: Malaysian Style Political Flip-Flopping
by Melissa Lee, Malaysia Chronicle (01-20-12)
Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government has decided to appeal against the acquittal of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim from trumped-up sodomy charges. This is not expected.
“As Anwar himself has made clear, it is the Attorney-General’s right to appeal. So, let’s wait and see whether there will be political interference. One thing though, this will make Malaysia a laughing stock in the eyes of the world community. It is an indictment on Najib’s leadership, it shows his indecisiveness and his inability to control the extremists in his party, hence the flip-flops,” PKR Vice President Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
Indeed, this is the second flip-flop of the day in Malaysia’s highly suspect judicial system, which is widely known for its notorious subservience to top political leaders.
Earlier on Friday, the Appeals Court, with an obvious eye on looming general elections, reversed a High Court decision to acquit DAP chairman Karpal Singh from alleged sedition charges against the Perak Sultan.
“These are is obviously political decisions by UMNO-BN. UMNO continues to abuse state powers and use dirty tactics to silence Anwar Ibrahim. UMNO will be punished terribly by voters for continuing the persecution of Anwar Ibrahim,” PKR Vice President N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle.
“Very weak leader”
Indeed there is more than meets the eye in the sodomy charges pressed against Anwar, who has blamed Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor of hatching together with complainant Saiful Bukhari Azlan so as to derail his political comeback.
Given the flimsiness of the evidence, experts never expected Najib to take the case to trial stage but he succumbed to pressure from the UMNO right wing, especially former Premier Mahathir Mohamad, who still harbors deep hatred for Anwar.
Pundits say Mahathir is also concerned that Anwar, who was his former deputy and who nearly toppled him in 1998, knows too much of his past wheeling-and-dealing.
If not imprisoned, chances are high Anwar will become the next Prime Minister of Malaysia, leading the Pakatan Rakyat opposition to victory in general elections that must be held by April 2013.
Hence, the immense pressure exerted on Najib to allow the Attorney General to appeal.”Najib 
has always been a very weak leader. He talks a good game, but as the saying goes, he doesn’t walk the talk,” Malott (right) had told Malaysia Chronicle in an e-mail interview.
“He is under a lot of pressure. So he might just remain silent and let it happen, saying that the decision is up to the prosecution. There have been other times like this, like when he said “it is up to the police” whether a demonstration can go forward. Are you in charge of your own government or not?
20 years jail
Meanwhile, prosecutors filed the appeal papers at the High Court criminal registry at 4.30pm on Friday, according to criminal deputy registrar Halilah Suboh.
On Jan 9, Anwar was acquitted on a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan because of a lack of corroborative evidence. Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah delivered his decision to a packed courtroom, as more than 10,000 supporters gathered outside the court building to show their support for the charismatic and popular leader.
Anwar was charged on Aug 8, 2008 under Section 377B of the Penal Code with committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature. He was accused of sodomising Mohd Saiful at the Desa Damansara Condominium in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, on June 26, 2008. If found guilty, he could be jailed for up to 20 years.
Malaysia Chronicle
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
The decision to file the appeal bears the stamp of his adversaries within his own party who are out to destroy the man. And there is nothing he can do to stop it. It is bad news for the country. Not just for him.
However, I still have trust that things will go his way. I just cannot see grounds for the appeal. The judge has not even issued his written judgement.
The appeal is just to please Saiful. Just going through the motion. The appeal will not be successful as UMNO cannot afford the backlash of public anger now.
Please Saiful?? Prosecution is undertaken at the initiative of the government against a party suspected of having committed a crime or crimes, of having broken the law. It is never undertaken as a duty to the alleged victim.
The alleged victim as plaintiff can always commence at his own initiative civil proceedings against the defendant to recover damages. Why hasn’t he done so?
Only and only in Malaysia, the Bolehland, the arsehole of a school dropout is more worth than Rkayat’s $ 250 million or the life of a preganant Mongalian lady. The UMNOMeluyus have the behaviour pattern of a monlkey colony. They should return to the ulu to wait for the cooconut to drop.
Mr. Bean, I agree and understand where you are coming from but this is not the normal case as we understand it.
It is good to appeal.There are many legal issues need to be addressed.People are happy with this appeal.
Its Mahathir telling Najib ,you dont let the AG appeal, and do Anwar in,I will squeeze your bola and let out your involvement with that Mongolian lady details out in my blog !!!
ARMS728,
They can only do so much. When they resort to the law as an excuse, they – whether they like it or not – are forced to play by the rules or at least appear to play by the rules i.e. that of criminal procedure and the law of evidence. Now that may sound naive. But it really is not. For example, they will have to apply for leave to appeal setting the grounds of appeal. The judge has not even put pen to paper. They can stretch the law so much but eventually they will still have to comply.
They don’t have the floor to themselves.
Not in Bolehland. The floor is sloping and slipery in favour of the Piper. The judges and the zoo keepers know how to lalang the law to fit the needs of UMNOmelayus more than to comply to the rule of law. May the Mongolian lady’s soul rest in peace.
Din,
Seriously I hope that there is a silver lining out of all these madness. It’s time to sink BN-UMNO. Frankly, this would never happen in Singapore especially when the current CJ is Ipoh Mari one. Well, do enjoy these 2 songs.
Bean suk,
Hope you won’t get a heart-attack…..Hahaha…..
The AG filing leave to appeal to restore Shitful honor. What honor does Shitful have? Will a verdict declaring Anwar guilty restore Shitful honor? Honor for being buggered?
Shitful should go and see a plastic surgeon to repair his honour. The surgeon should stitch that bung hole shut and spare us all the agony.
Sapa pulak yang flip-flop. Saiful dan bapanya memang cakap dari awal lagi nak appeal. Tak faham why you all takut sangat Anwar kalah dalam appeal. Itu hak courts menentukan.
Sabenarnya tidak ada kepelikan terdapat pada rayauan Pehak Pendakwa di dalam kes Sodomy 2 ini. Ia nya hanya untuk mengukuhkan bahawa pihak Kerajaan tidak terlibat.
Bukan kah apabila mahkamah membebaskan Anwar, Najib terus berkata itu membuktikan tiada konspirasi dan Kerajaan tidak terlibat.
Rayuan telah dibuat dan Appelate Court akan mendengar. Sekali lagi Appelate Court akan berpendapat tiada basis dan bersetuju keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi.
Bukan kah Najib akan sekali lagi meraung untuk membuktikan kebebasan Kehakiman, ini akan memberi ‘merits’ yang amat tinggi kepada Kerajaan dan BN pada GE 13.
And…they really need this. Its to complete the theme, my friends.
We are cought!!!
timor..
When they lose the appeal Saiful will turn around and say it was UMNO’s conspiracy all the way….then DSN will be trapped and the GE is around the corner. TDM will then put his finishing touch….
Mak Cik, All commentators here are not concerned with Anwar or Shitful winning or losing. We are just upset with the way justice is being administered. Perhaps you don’t understand the difference between “prosecution” and “persecution”. In between lies “prostitution”. That’s where the whole government machinery have allowed themselves to be in.
webelos – Makcik’s objective is just to upset us in this forum…that’s why intellectually she has put herself in-between persecution and prosecution